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Public commenters urge retirement of coastal OTC plants and question costs of keeping them available
Summary
Several public commenters praised agencies' progress on reliability but urged retirement of once‑through cooling (OTC) coastal units (Ormond Beach cited), questioned monthly payments (~$13 million) to keep some OTC plants available, and urged prioritizing investments in demand‑side programs and community protections.
Public comment at the end of the oversight hearing included environmental advocates, local community representatives and industry. Jacob Evans of Sierra Club California urged retirement of Ormond Beach Generation Station, noting it had been paid to remain available despite little use and local environmental harms. "Ratepayers have paid approximately $13,000,000 per month to keep the plant available," Evans said, urging a faster retirement timetable.
Representatives of community groups in coastal disadvantaged neighborhoods echoed calls to retire OTC plants and said the ongoing payments and local environmental impacts were not justified by the operational benefits. Commenters thanked the agencies for progress but urged clearer timelines and funding shifts from keeping OTCs available toward demand‑side programs that would more equitably manage reliability and public health impacts.
